California voters reject ballot measure to increase the state’s minimum wage

Voters in California have narrowly rejected a ballot measure that would have gradually increased the minimum wage in the state to $18 per hour, NBC News projected Wednesday.

It’s the first time a ballot measure proposing to raise the statewide minimum wage has failed nationwide since 1996.

The California measure, listed as Proposition 32 on the ballot, proposed bumping the state’s minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026, which would have made it the highest in the U.S.

With 92% of the vote counted, the “no” vote against the measure had the support of 50.8% of voters, while the “yes” vote had 49.2%.

Supporters of the measure said it would have benefitted workers, while opponents argued that its passage would have increased costs for employers, which would have likely prompted them to fire employees.

The California Chamber of Commerce, which opposed the measure, lauded its defeat in a statement.

“CalChamber opposed Prop. 32 because it would have resulted in higher costs for small business employers and consumers,” the group’s CEO, Jennifer Barrera, said in a statement. “With the economy and costs top of mind for many voters this election, that message appears to have resonated.”

California’s current state minimum wage for most workers is $16 per hour, though under a law signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that went into effect in March, the minimum wage for many fast food workers is $20 per hour.

Another law signed by Newsom increased the minimum wage in the state for many health care workers to $25 per hour starting last month.

California’s current $16 minimum wage is already among the highest in the nation. Some cities within New York also implement a minimum wage of $16 per hour, while Washington state’s minimum wage is $16.26 per hour. Hawaii’s minimum wage is set to gradually increase to $18 per hour in 2028 under a law passed in 2022.

The defeat is the first time in 28 years that a ballot measure to increase a state minimum wage was defeated. According to Ballotpedia, which tracks the outcomes of statewide ballot measures, voters had passed all 26 measures to increase state minimum wages that appeared on statewide ballots since 1996, when voters in Missouri and Montana rejected increases.

Meanwhile, ballot measures in two other states to increase the minimum wage overwhelmingly passed this month.

Voters in Alaska and Missouri approved measures to gradually raise their state minimum wages to $15 per hour by 2026, according to NBC News projections, with increases after that year attached to economic data. Both measures won by 16-point margins.